I suggest you resist the temptation to design your own floor plan. Instead, keep a log to identify where, how, and how much time you spend in various living areas of your home. Will your needs for a new home be similar to your current needs or will the new home need to respond to a life change such as retirement?

Collect photos which show your style preferences, but be wary of letting "features" drive the overall design. And work with design and construction professionals from the outset to bring it all together in a way that suits the building site, your needs, and your budget.

In the real world, your info request would cost thousands.

Read the Christopher Alexander book, “A Pattern Language”. This will help you understand why some spaces are delightful and others are ordinary.

I think it’s great to go into a meeting with your list of must haves and nice to have. For us some of that was some layout things but not a full plan. For example we knew we wanted four beds up with three bathrooms. We knew we wanted open concept main floor. We knew we wanted rec room for kids in basement. How we got those things was up to the designer who had to work with the constraints of the lot and local bylaws etc.

Your best plan is to find someone you want to work with before getting too attached to a plan you make.

I agree with Charles Ross - we bought a software program and started dinking around with floor plans, after about 2 sessions with our builder, he said “it’s time you get an architect” - he was so right - we gave our “wish list” to the architect and he came up with a wonderful design that needed minimal tweaks.

Do:

1. Rely on professionals to design your house.
2. Understand that it will cost you 30% more (at least) than a comparable existing home, and likely more than your initial bid.
3. Get a good builder in board early in the process.
   Don't:
4. Try designing your floorplan yourselves. Sorry, i know you probably think it's not that hard, but get it done right. I made that mistake and luckily was able to recover from it with good professionals, but you may not.
5. Use a preconceived plan without considering everything that YOU might need. For example, in our custom home we designed a piano nook in the living room. Someone recently posted on here that they were framing their house and trying to figure out where to put their piano, and were thinking of the foyer (?!) Because they had nowhere else to put it. They hadn't made room for a piano in design, even though it would have been simple to do. Figure out what you need NOW and don't let existing floorplans limit your possibilities. We also designed in two pocket offices upstairs for dh and I instead of the ubiquitous large office in the foyer, because that was what worked for us.

You're at the beginning of a possible journey. And you have time to determine your path. You aren't required to use an architect or a builder. With research you can learn to produce a home for your family you'll be happy will for many years. If you put in the effort over the next several years you can save a major amount of money and end up with a quality finished product. Break everything down to its components and keep a file folder for each. For some reading besides YouTube like the Build Show, look at The Journal of Light Construction and Fine Homebuilding. Check into your states requirements for getting a sales tax license by registering a building company for your project.

To be sure, designing and building a home isn't like designing and building the space shuttle. If you want to do either or both as a life experience, then go for it. However, the economics of doing so are often overstated. You'll be low on the learning curve and more likely to make mistakes. What will those cost and how much of your "savings" will they erode? As a one-off customer, you're not likely to qualify for any discounts. Subcontractors may not be willing to work for a homeowner/builder. How much of your day job will you sacrifice during the design and construction? If you forgo a year's wages and benefits, how much is your true net savings?

I always liked Wright's signature tile near the entrance of many of the homes he designed.

You aren't required to use an architect or a builder. With research you can learn to produce a home for your family you'll be happy will for many years.

Sure you can. However how much time are you willing to devote to learning what it takes to create a home that will live well? Also there's a huge difference between putting tetris boxes together versus designing a home. If the OP's skill set is in design, I say go for it. However if the OP's skill set is far removed from design, where they even have trouble understanding a floor plan, then it's best left to the professionals.

Oftentimes, potential clients will express some kind of guilt to me that they cannot design their home without professional help. I always respond the same way... "I don't know what you do for a living, but I probably cannot do it." For sure, not everyone needs a professional designer/architect. But the "you don't know what you don't know" truth when realized can be costly, especially in a new build. Most professionals come with years of training and experience. I would argue that a qualified professional can save you a lot of money by directing you to products that fit your budget and lifestyle, by correcting design mistakes before they happen, by using their knowledge to design a home for your needs and aesthetics and not geared toward short-lived trends, etc. If this is a long-term home and you want it to retain its value, I highly recommend starting this project by finding a talented architect.

Plenty of time. They mentioned a time frame of years. And everything they learn will save them money and improve the final product. This is simple learnable stuff. I did it. I highly encourage the journey.

No it won't necessarily save them money. Not if they have to find subs to do major work. Subs will not give the best prices to someone doing a one off. They give their best price to someone who will continue to give them new work...meaning builders.

And if they're doing the work themselves and it's their first time, what is their time worth learning how to do it correctly? And who do you think will do it better? A well trained sub who does this day in or day out, or someone who is attempting it for the first time?

Tell you what. I'm a colored pencil artist. Why don't you go read my book, and then do one of the colored pencil lessons in the book and lets see who does a better job at it. You or me.

As you've stated, you're an artist. Home building could be phenomenal if the subs were all artists.

But, alas, it's rarely so at this level. That quality space between builder grade worker product and what an artist can create is what I'm talking about. If they want to put the effort in they'll reap real rewards. . . . .And finding subs for what I don't or can't do is a skill to be learned like all the other parts of building a house. We found our rough crew and drywallers by visiting subdivision construction sites. Good workers at fair prices for our one project building company. No GC markup.

I would also read the long threads in these forums. There are many here who met snafus along their design (or build) and we can all learn from those lessons. If you are such a beginner that you are asking such general questions as your post (no offense intended), then this forum is a great place to immerse yourself. Go read a few hundred past threads.

Dan I'm sure your house is a work of art and that you lucked out.

Read enough threads here and you'll realize that you're the exception to the rule. Good subs do not have to be artists but great technicians in their field of work. You don't need an artist to frame a house. Or even do drywall. However you do need a talented technician and the best builders hoard their best technicians. I'm not talking about tract home building and it doesn't sound like the OP is either. Big difference between a truly custom build and a tract home build.

Hi Lauren,

Education is only the beginning of a designer's career. Our experience is the invaluable part of the equation. In my 20+ years I can say my designs have increasingly become better in terms of aesthetics and function as well as efficiency of space and construction cost. I can't begin to tell you how many houses I have been asked to build which I did not design that I have completely redesigned the structure which saved our client's more than our fees would have been in the first place. You know best how your family is going to utilize the house and a designer knows best how best to achieve that goal.

Charle Ross gave you great advice. The coolest features of a custom home are those that improve the quarily of YOUR life, not the trendest and not what others say you need. One of the best thing about a custom home is that it can be designed for how YOU live. As you go through your daily routines in your present home take time to note what features and adjacencies you like and what would improve daily living. As an example, for me one feature was a window seat in our master bath between the two vanities that i sit on daily to dry my hair, do nails, etc. Think about your particular storage needs and note those. For example, i love having a dedicated Chrismas closet and another primarily dedicated to camping and sporting gear. Others may want craft supply storage. Cpartist has a great art studio with thoughful storage for her art supplies. We will always have at least one large dog and we built with that in mind with a discrete, draft free, large large dog door in a dedicated pet supply cabinet.

If you haven’t already purchased a lot, really think about how your location can enhance your lifestyle. Whether buying or building the old saying that the three most important considerations are location, location, location is very true. Really think about how a particular area works for you. Also a home designed specifically for you lot is a must so make sure you keep that in mind.

We had a fairly unique concept and I loved drawing house plans and found it useful for explaining to an our very talented architect my ideas and how I wanted the house to live. Working with an architect who was able to take my very amateur plans for the concept while not being constrained by them and improve and refine to an aesthetically amazing final product that lives wonderfully was the best part if the whole experience.

Good luck!

These guys are doing it.

And they're also posting the process on YouTube. Now worth $1.5million. So you could include that. Extra work.

" I mean we can go through and nitpick all these teeny tiny little things." . . ."But nobody else is going to come over and see the things the way that we see them." . . .You know what I mean. Cause do you ever walk into anybody else's house . . . ha . . ha . . . ha ha."

Dan, Brett said above, "Education is only the beginning of a designer's career. Our experience is the invaluable part of the equation. In my 20+ years I can say my designs have increasingly become better in terms of aesthetics and function as well as efficiency of space and construction cost."

Meaning the longer you do something, the better you get at it. I'm sure your house is lovely but my guess is if you had designed 500 houses, your house would most likely be even better.

This is a great time in the process to read Home By Design (Sarah Susanka) and start thinking about not just how the rooms should be arranged (which is critical) but also the experience you want to create for the people who live in and visit your new home.

@cpartist regarding your comment "Meaning the longer you do something, the better you get at it.", I agree that experience plays a huge role in getting better results than you'd get from a novice. Don't forget the opposite side of that coin. There are plenty of people in many different professions who get lazy, complacent, and stuck in their ways as they reach the latter years of their careers. There have been many folks on this board who have encountered this with architects, designers, contractors, etc.

@SBDRH,

I agree. There's a difference between "expertise" and "experience." Assuming someone with lots of the latter has the former can get folks in trouble.

SBDRH, that too is true. However hopefully the person doing the vetting discovers that.

They'll surely have discovered that skill after they do 500 houses.

Felt the healing fingertips. But I still haven't found what I'm looking for.